SINGAPORE  - Chicago wheat gained more ground on Wednesday, rising for six of seven days and trading near previous session's highest since May 4, on concerns over dry weather reducing yields in key exporting countries.

U.S. soybeans rose for a fourth consecutive session on expectations of strong demand from top importer China after easing of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The Chicago Board Of Trade most-active wheat contract was up 0.1 percent at $5.22-1/4 a bushel, by 0358 GMT. It closed 2.7 percent higher on Tuesday when prices hit $5.30 a bushel, their highest since May 4.

Soybeans added 0.3 percent to $10.33-1/4 a bushel, and corn gained 0.3 to $4.05-3/4 a bushel.

"We are in a weather market for wheat. An outlook for dryness in U.S. southern Plains is supporting prices," said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist, National Australia Bank.

"We have concerns over dry weather in Australia although the crop has several months to go before the harvest at the end of the year."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said just 36 percent of the U.S. winter wheat crop was in good-to-excellent shape, as of Sunday, compared with 52 percent at the same point last year.

Dry weather in parts of Canada, eastern Australia and southern Russia, all major wheat exporters, also gave prices a lift.

In the soybean market, there was talk of Chinese buying for U.S. shipments as trade tensions between the two countries eased following talks last week.

Over the weekend, the world's two largest economies pledged to keep talking about how China could import more energy and agricultural commodities from the United States to narrow a $335 billion annual U.S. goods and services trade deficit with Beijing.

Better-than-expected U.S. soybean planting progress capped the market after the USDA said 56 percent of the crop had been seeded, as of Sunday, well ahead of the five-year average of 44 percent.

Corn planting was 81 percent completed, in line with the average pace, USDA said.

Argentina will likely produce a record 2018/19 corn crop of at least 40 million tonnes, sowing an estimated 6 million hectares of the grain, up from 5.4 million a year earlier, the president of corn association Maizar Alberto Morelli said on Tuesday.

Grains prices at 0358 GMT

Contract    Last     Change   Pct chg  Two-day chg  MA 30    RSI

CBOT wheat  522.25   0.75     +0.14%   +0.77%       501.30   61

CBOT corn    405.75   1.00     +0.25%   +0.81%       398.11   65

CBOT soy    1033.25  2.75     +0.27%   +3.48%       1034.89  60

CBOT rice   12.38     $0.05     +0.41%   +0.45%       $12.91   43

WTI crude   71.94    -$0.26   -0.36%     -0.42%        $69.36   65

Currencies                                                   

Euro/dlr    $1.176   -$0.001  -0.13%   -0.28%               

USD/AUD     0.7542   0.003    +0.41%   +0.44%               

Most active contracts

Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight RSI 14, exponential

© Reuters News 2018